Destiny Without Direction
by ViolentLlamas21
Summary: Kiyomi and Akemi used to be the best of friends until their differences began to ruin what they had. Years later, they go on a mission that would change their lives as well as their relationship with two very unique Uchiha. Follow them as they blindly try to pave the path of their own destiny. AU/Non-Massacre
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: First story posted on this site in a while so we're a little bit rusty. This is a collaborative piece between two people, and our individual accounts are gonna be located in the account description if you wanna check us out! We aim to have a new chapter up at least every week (though we're aiming for more). Let us know what you thought!**

Akemi walked through the village gates, keeping a steady pace with the other. She listened quietly to the calming rustling of leaves and chirping of the birds in the morning air, occasionally turning her gaze to her travel companion. Kiyomi was the Fifth Hokage's niece, and, was a close friend of hers once. Looking back at it, that felt like a lifetime ago. They had been so close. Their shared meals, the training sessions, and their secrets that they still keep. They had spent so much time together, whether it be missions or window shopping in the village marketplace for their favorite weapons and clothes. The girls were the closest of friends for the longest time, and she almost couldn't even remember why they had stopped talking.

She hummed awkwardly to herself, not really sure how to proceed. They hadn't been out on a mission together since they were Genin fresh from the academy, or even talked since then for that matter. '_Come on, Akemi, say something…' _she thought to herself, the silence almost painful. "So… it's been a long time since we've done this, huh?" she asked, twirling her hand around in her blonde ponytail as they walked.

Kiyomi glanced at the bubbly blonde beside her before looking ahead with her hand resting calmly on the hilt of the katana strapped to her left hip. "Yes. It has been quite a while since we have been on a mission together." Hearing the irritated huff that came from the 22 year old, she closed her eyes and sighed softly. "I..don't mean to be so blunt." Opening her eyes and glancing at the blonde once more, Kiyomi tightens her grip on the hilt, her knuckles turning slightly white from the pressure. "How..have you been, Akemi?"

She noticed the girl was taking her time to respond. Nakamura Akemi had always been a very outspoken person, not at all like herself. She had always been like a breath of fresh air for the socially awkward Senju and she honestly missed those days where Akemi knew just what she needed to help with her stress. Akemi was the first person she had ever opened up to. The girl knew more about her than even her own aunt.

The blonde shrugged in response, keeping perfect time with the other as they walked. She thought for a minute, a little frustrated. She hadn't talked to Kiyomi in so long, and now that she had the chance she really had nothing to say. "I've been… fine, I guess. Working my tail off, honestly." she admitted, tilting her head back a bit as a cool breeze rolled past them. She had been on a lot of missions recently, with the increase in criminal activity and slight tensions between villages starting. "Sometimes I think I just need a vacation, ya know? Stay in the village and teach some of these kids a few tricks. Something that doesn't involve leaving home so much…"

The dark haired girl nodded her head, her long braid swaying behind her as she walked at a calm pace. "I have not stopped since I became a Jonin and subsequently Anbu as well. Being a highly trained and well-versed medic-nin has made me a..favorite among other teams. Tsunade-sama has also had me doing many solo missions." Kiyomi smiles slightly remembering how easy it was to speak to the blonde. "I had seen your name had been on the roster for the Seduction Missions as well." She smirked at her companions reddening face, "Did you finally get over your prudish nature?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Akemi shrugged, trying to hide how flushed her face was. She definitely hadn't gotten over it, but she knew that sometimes things needed to be done a certain way, no matter how uncomfortable it made her. "Figured i'd try something new. Tired of the same old stuff." she kicked at a pebble as she walked down the path, already kind of bored of walking.

Kiyomi chuckled at her old friend as she closed her eyes again and faced the sky, letting the cool breeze brush through her hair and across her skin as well. She loved being outside of the village. That was one of the differences between the two. Kiyomi loved to be working. Ever since she lost her parents and the falling out between the two, that's all she has done to keep her mind off of it.

"We should be getting close to Team A. Tsunade-sama said that Itachi-san last reported from right outside of the Land of Fire. I am still very surprised that they needed our assistance for a simple assassination mission."

"Hopefully everything is going better than I think it is. Lady Hokage seemed a little worried when she was briefing us." Akemi responded, crossing her arms and looking forward as she continued down the path. Kiyomi nodded as she walked in time with the blonde girl. "Tsunade-sama is never really that worried when it comes to the Uchiha's team. I believe she said they had even left with a six-man cell. They shouldn't be having any trouble at all."

Akemi grimly agreed with the girl. "I'm sure that Shisui is with them. So it makes at least two Uchiha on the team." The two then became silent after that.

They continued their journey for another hour or so, until they made it to the area that Team A was supposed to be. However, they were a little confused to find that they weren't there. Not that they could see, anyways. "Hm. That's a little… weird."

Kiyomi narrowed her eyes slightly before she sent out a pulse of chakra to see if she could find any traces of the Anbu team. Feeling a faint flicker of response, she motioned for Akemi to follow her silently through the trees. That led the two girls to a semi-open clearing that was densely packed with trees almost all around.

On the ground in the center of the clearing seemed to be a couple of downed missing-nin. The dark haired girl stilled as she listened to the sounds coming from the trees, trying to pick up on anything that would give her an inkling of where the 3 Anbu were. "Akemi. Do you sense anything...off?"

Akemi frowned, looking around at the eerily silent clearing, then down at the missing-nin. This all seemed way too convenient. Way too quiet. She rested her hand on where her staff was holstered as she stood there, preparing for anything that might happen. It was so quiet at a point, that she almost started to believe that there was nothing wrong.

Suddenly, she heard the smallest rustle of leaves, and pulled her weapon out. "Careful, we aren't alone…." she said in almost a whisper, glancing over at the other girl. She knelt down and moved to flip the body onto it's back so they could identify who it was while Kiyomi kept watch. Once she did, she immediately noticed the paper bomb stuck to its forehead and gasped. She shoved the other girl back, diving as far away as she could get just as it exploded.

Kiyomi looked into the blonde's eyes before confirming the plan with a nod. Within seconds, the girls disappeared just as three ninja flew out of the tree line and landed right where the two had previously been. Kiyomi immediately noticed something off with them. She glanced in the direction of her companion and realized that she noticed it, too. It was Team A. Apparently they were being extremely cautious as well.

Akemi sighed, a little relieved when they realized it was just them. The real surprise, however, was that there was only three of them. "I thought you said they left with six?" she asked, quirking a brow at her friend.

"...They did." she replied, before jumping out of the tree and landing behind them. Genma was the first to turn around, weapon in hand. He let out a chuckle when he saw them, lowering it.

"'Been a while, girls." he commented, crossing his arms. The other two looked at them, Shisui with his signature smile and Itachi with that stoic, unreadable expression. Some things never change.

Kiyomi raised an eyebrow at the three men. Genma was an..odd addition to the duo. She'd never seen him on a mission with them before. The two girls then bowed partially to Itachi before Kiyomi pulled out the mission scroll from Tsunade and handed it over to the youngest Uchiha.

Shisui scoffed and then pouted at the dark haired woman. "Kiyomi-channn, why does Itachi get the scroll?" The woman gave the oldest a dry look as her eyebrow began to twitch in irritation already. He loved getting on her nerves. It was one thing that he did very well.

"He is the team's Captain. Who else would I have given it to?"

Akemi giggled at Shisui, making her way over to stand with the rest of them. She glanced over at the Uchiha, just listening to the exchange. She'd had only a handful of interactions with both of them, almost always mission-related. She could already tell how badly he was getting on her nerves, and it really was amusing to watch.

"But what if I had become Captain for the mission?" Shisui whined, but the look he received instantly shut him up. "Please, Shisui-san. I am not in the mood today." She heard Genma chuckle at the two before he patted Kiyomi on the shoulder. "Ah lay off of him, Kiyomi-chan. He's just happy to see two beautiful women on the same team as him."

Kiyomi rolled her eyes at him before turning back to Itachi and putting on her serious face. "Tsunade-sama seemed rather perplexed as well as worried that you needed help for an assassination mission. She said you had not given much information to explain why you needed us. Would you mind filling us in on the status?"

"We currently have one of the missing-nin that are in involved in this trafficking ring. We tried interrogating him, however… genjutsu has no effect." he started to explain, before looking over at the blonde. "We needed somebody more suited to try and get the whereabouts of the leader out of him. We've...lost a few operatives, as well as some from other teams, to this group. We cannot risk any more casualties, which is why we summoned you, Kiyomi." Itachi explained, turning his attention to the dark haired girl. It was obvious in his eyes that losing men under his command was slightly bothering him.

Akemi crossed her arms and looked around at them with a slight frown, not really sure why she was needed. She wasn't surprised that they were unsuccessful, none of them being as trained in the interrogation field as her. "Oh boy, this is gonna be a lot of work." Akemi complained a bit, shaking a leaf out of her hair. '_So much for a simple mission….' _she thought to herself.


	2. Chapter 2

They led the girls to a cave located not too far from the clearing. Inside, they saw the shadow of a man who was sitting cross legged on the ground, arms and legs tied up tightly so he couldn't get away. "So, this is him?" the blonde asked, getting a nod from Itachi. She grinned Emily as she made eye contact with the man, "Oh, this is going to be fun."

Kiyomi leaned up against the rock wall, her arms crossed underneath her chest and one ankle crossed over the other as she watched the scene before her. Akemi had a tendency to be a little..harsh during interrogations. Within thirty minutes, the dark haired girl had already had to heal the captive at least five times just so he wouldn't bleed out. Unfortunately for the man, he was still refusing to speak and Akemi was getting impatient.

"I ain't tellin' you shit, you blonde Leaf whore!" Kiyomi watched Akemi narrow her eyes before her fist snapped out quickly into the man's face and for the third time, she heard the man's nose break and his screams echoed off the walls.

Akemi frowned, not expecting this guy to be as difficult as he was being. She leaned down and got in his face again, calm as can be, "So… You wanna try this again? Where is your leader hiding out?" she asked, waiting patiently for an answer. The only response she got was some spit in her face. "Fuck you." he spat at her, still not wavering. She laughed a little, standing up and pacing in front of the bruised ninja. She was starting to get a bit pissed off. "I was hoping i didn't have to do this…" she made her way around where he was tied up, her staff out and in her hand.

The blonde girl hummed a bit to herself, letting the bottom of her staff drag against the cave floor, which echoed loudly as she circled him. She got behind him again, raising her weapon and whipping him hard with the metal pole. He screamed out in pain just as she did it again, hearing the sickening noise it made when it connected. She grabbed a fistful of his hair, ripping his head back. "Where the FUCK is he?" she asked, louder this time as he struggled.

He growled out, "Just fuckin' kill me you bitches! I ain't gonna tell yo-!" The man was cut off as her staff made a sickening sound again as she hit him upside the face. He fell to his side and spit a glob of blood onto the floor in front of him. Holding her hand up to make Akemi pause, Kiyomi stalked over to the man on the floor, ignoring the stares of the other three men in the cave. Her walk reminded the man of a cat, graceful and deadly.

Crouching down, Kiyomi took the man by his chin softly and held his head up. "We need the information and until we get it, I will let my friend continue her ministrations. I will continue to heal you and then let her start again. I will only offer this once; tell us where we will find your leader, and I will kill you as painless as possible."

"Damnit, alright! I'll talk, just…. no more." he said, looking obviously defeated. As if he had accepted his fate. The girls listened closely as he explained to them where the leader, and most of the girls, were housed. It was more information than they needed, but the blonde couldn't help but frown. She was doing most of the interrogation, but it didn't take Kiyomi long to get a confession from the man.

"Finally. Alright, i'm gonna let you get down to business, Ki. My work is done." she said, standing up. She turned to walk away, but before she did, she hit him across the face with her staff again. She started to walk away triumphantly, satisfied with the sound of a few teeth breaking. "That's for being such a pain in my ass." she said before walking past the boys, who had all been watching from the cave entrance.

The missing nin moaned in pain before looking up at Kiyomi, pleading for her to finish the job. With a stoic face, Kiyomi performed the hand seals for her medical ninjutsu. She placed her hand directly over the center of his chest and manipulated her chakra into stopping his heart without him feeling anymore pain. As he finally passed, she stood up and turned back to the entrance of the cave. "We have the information needed. Would you like us to continue with you on this mission, Itachi-san?"

The three men stared at the two girls not realizing they actually were capable of what they did. Most kunoichi were not able to do what these two could and do it so well without letting it affect them. Shisui and Genma glanced at their captain for his answer.

Itachi looked at the girls, nodding simply in response. "I would be glad to work with you both." he said, seeming almost relieved that they wanted to stay with them. He looked up at the sky, seeing that it was starting to get dark. "We should camp out for the night. The next part starts at first light." he said, motioning for Shisui to help him with the body left in the cave.

Akemi smiled a bit as they passed before taking a seat near the entrance. She cleaned the blood off of her staff before putting it back in it's respective holster. She was expecting to have this portion of the mission over and done with before dark so she could go home. As much as she liked them all, she was not too excited to have to follow on this assassination mission. "Well, looks like there's always more to do."

As the others settled in for the evening, Kiyomi sat off a little ways from the fire and her temporary teammates. She sat leaning against the wall of the cave and observed the four. She had been on missions with both Uchihas before and she knew how they worked together. It always gave the girl a feeling of relief when working with them.

They didn't mess around and they were very good at what they do. At one point, Tsunade had said that Itachi wished to have her as a permanent member of their team. The blonde Hokage had even tried to make her Team B's Captain, but Kiyomi had requested otherwise. She preferred to work alone.

Still looking on, she watched as the flames flickered across the faces of the four shinobi in front of her. Her eyes briefly made contact with Itachi and she showed little surprise on her face as the young man who was only a year older than her, made his way over to her.

He didn't sit down. He just stood leaning against the wall beside her and they both continued looking out at the others. Kiyomi pulled her knees to her chest and laid her head on top of them. They stayed there quietly for a while just watching the three laughing in front of them. "I apologize for not accepting your offer of becoming a permanent member to your team, Itachi-san." She sighed, knowing he had been wondering why she declined the offer even though he would have never asked.

Itachi nodded slowly after a second. "I understand. Everything is done for a reason." he responded, leaning back against the wall a bit more. He watched in silence as Shisui sat at the fire, sharing a laugh with the blonde girl and Genma. They all seemed to be getting along really well, which made things go a little more smoothly. Though, they admittedly got on his nerves a bit when they were all together.

He sighed when he saw the blonde and the other Uchiha waving them back over. Of course, Kiyomi stayed seated, not making any move to join. As much as she liked working with and being with everyone, she was really enjoying the alone time. Itachi straightened up, starting to walk over to rejoin them. Before he did, he glanced back over at the dark haired girl. "The invitation to join is still open." he said, before walking away.

Kiyomi leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of the shinobi around the fire. She didn't fall asleep, though. On missions, her insomnia was insatiable and so she was mostly the lookout during team missions. She stood and raised her hands above her head and stretched her back out. After hearing a satisfying pop, she walked over to the group.

Akemi gave her a smile thinking she would be finally joining them, but was quickly disappointed. "I will take first watch outside." She noticed Itachi's eyebrows furrow slightly, before Shisui spoke up, "You always take first watch and then never wake anyone else up when on missions with us, Kiyomi-chan. It's not fair that you don't get any rest." The girl shrugged, "My insomnia makes me the best person for it. I might as well put myself to use."

The blonde girl frowned, shaking her head in response to the other girl. She definitely overworked herself sometimes, especially with all night watches. She stood up, practically forcing the dark haired girl to take a seat. "_I'm_ going to take the first watch. _You _are going to sit, be good, and socialize for a while. You can switch me out when it comes time." she explained, not really giving her any room to decline.

"Well, seems the lady has spoken." Genma said with a chuckle, not even mad about the new arrangement. It was originally his night for watch, and with both girls wanting to take watch it meant that he didn't have to.

Kiyomi all but grumbled as she sat there staring into the flames. She looked up as Shisui began speaking to her, "Alright, Kiyomi-chan, you heard Akemi. You need to socialize. So let's start with a few questions about _you._" He completely ignored the glare coming from the Senju and just grinned at her. "You've never really told us how old you are." She raised an eyebrow at him, "Yes. And what about that?"

She noticed the slight smirk from the younger Uchiha at her response while the oldest gave her a dry look. "How old are you, Kiyomi-chan?" "I'm twenty-three." He smiles at having gotten an answer.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Green."

"Really? I would have guessed it would be like..black."

"Black is not a color."

Shisui gave her another look. "You're no fun, Kiyomi-chan." he complained, rolling his eyes.

The dark haired girl only survived a handful of inane questions from the Uchiha as he attempted to get to know her before she went off on her own. She took it upon herself to start her own watch, taking a seat up in one of the higher trees that overlooked the surrounding area. She had her fill of social interaction for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

The night went by peacefully, no sign of any enemies trying to jump them while they slept. Akemi started to wake up, seeing that everyone else was packing up and shuffling to get ready to leave. She sat up and yawned, stretching herself out a bit before getting up. Shisui was the first to notice the blonde finally wake up. "Sleep well?" he asked, glancing in her direction.

"The ground was not very comfortable." she complained, putting her hand on her lower back. Shisui chuckled, shaking his head a bit at her.

"You should have taken the tree. It was at least a little nicer." he looked at her like he was going to say something else, but was interrupted by Itachi. "It is time to head out."

Akemi groaned softly, not prepared for the long walk they had ahead of them. The route the missing-nin had given them apparently had a few transfer checkpoints on the way. They were going to check those out, and hopefully, manage to liberate a few of the prisoners. She followed the Uchihas to where Genma and Kiyomi were already patiently waiting, ready to get moving.

Genma was currently annoying Kiyomi by asking her about her strengths. He had never worked with her and had only ever heard about her medical skills. Switching his senbon from one side of his mouth to the other, he thought of another question. "So, if you're a Senju, does that mean you have all that crazy chakra control like Lady Hokage?" She sighed heavily and turned to face the Uchiha's, not wanting to answer the brunette man.

"I am a medic. Of course I have above average control over my chakra."

"That wasn't what I asked. Are you strictly a medic-nin? Or can you do other stuff? Is there some kind of secret Kekkei Genkai for the Senju clan?" he continued trying to get _something_ interesting out of the quiet girl, but all he got was a harsh glare.

"I am mostly sent with a team as a medic." Noticing Kiyomi's growing aggravation, Itachi stepped in, "Enough Genma. You will see her skills soon enough. There is no need to continue to pester her. We need to get going." Kiyomi sent him a thankful look before adjusting her medicinal pack across her shoulder.

Akemi stood toward the back of everyone, giggling a bit as she watched Genma harassing her dark haired friend. She was bound to smack him sooner or later, and she kinda wanted to see it. Itachi led everyone, walking down the path with everyone else close behind.

The blonde stayed behind everyone, sighing quietly as she walked through the morning sunlight. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous of Kiyomi, who seemed to get nothing but attention and praise from the rest of the team. Even when they were in the academy and doing missions as Genin she always excelled at everything. It was kind of frustrating, but she obviously wasn't going to say anything to anyone. She was only there to see the mission through to completion, so she could go home.

Kiyomi noticed a look on her old friend's face. A look that she was all too familiar with. She let a soft sigh leave her as she fell behind the others to walk with the blonde. Sticking her hands into her front pockets and looking straight ahead, she spoke softly to the girl. "I know that face, Akemi." Kiyomi gave her a sideways glance. "You know I don't mean to."

The dark haired girl winced slightly at the irritated look coming from the blonde and looked away again. "Trust me, I do _not_ like the attention. I hate feeling like I must always live up to everyone's standards just because of my name."

Akemi frowned, making a point to look to her other side. She hadn't honestly expected her friend to recognize how she was feeling. She figured she'd forgotten after not interacting for so long. She wasn't sure if that made her feel better or worse about the whole thing. She sighed, crossing her arms over her chest as they walked. "I've spent so much time working my butt off for the position I'm in, and the one time we're back together it feels like I've taken a huge step back." she said, obviously a little frustrated.

Kiyomi became quiet, not knowing exactly how to respond. She didn't realize that her very presence made her feel that way. She looked down at her feet as they walked. "Hey! You guys should stop being so antisocial and at least walk closer to us!" Called Shisui. She felt Akemi look once more at her before huffing and walking faster to get away from the girl.

Sighing softly, Kiyomi kept her position from behind, feigning the reason being she was keeping an eye on things from there. She felt terrible. Akemi had always been her best and only friend, yet because of their differences, they had faded so much from each other's lives. She continued walking, lost in her thoughts.

Roughly three hours of walking later, the group arrived to a small village not far off from Kusagakure, the Village Hidden in the Grass. Shisui and Akemi's stomach growled loudly as the smell of delicious ramen wafted through the air towards them. "Itachi~..I'm hungry. Can we get food before we do anything else?"

Akemi looked over at Itachi, for once hoping that they could just focus on the task at hand. She sighed a little when Itachi reluctantly agreed that they could make a food stop. She stayed quiet as they made their way to the ramen shop nearby, taking a seat at the table. She watched as the boys all ordered something, declining when the man running the shop got to her. Usually she could eat a lot, but today in specific she just wasn't feeling it.

Kiyomi, also wishing to just get this mission over with, decided that it would be good to get some Intel. She never ate much on missions aside from the occasional Soldier Pill to keep up strength. She leaned over closely to Itachi and spoke lowly, "Would you mind if I went to gather some intel? This is one of the stops the man gave us." Itachi nodded his head in agreement, but before she could leave he spoke up, "Akemi should go with you. It would be good to have two instead of just one." Sighing, Kiyomi nodded and turned to the blonde who was now standing behind her chair.

Akemi, who was within earshot of the two, nodded without really saying anything. She started to walk away, looking around at the shops and everything around them. She stayed silent for a minute, before sighing and shaking her head. She was going into work mode. Mainly to ignore how she was feeling about the whole Kiyomi situation.

"So, where do you want to go first?" she asked, because it was her that suggested they gather intel. She spotted a little cafe-like area, where some sketchy people seemed to be hanging out. She nudged Kiyomi and started to make her way over. She slid quietly into a seat at a table, conveniently close enough to kinda hear what they were saying. She acted casual, looking over at the menu to decide what she wanted.

Sitting down and also picking up the menu, Kiyomi listened in to the people seated a bit away from them. The lanky blue haired man spoke first, "Have you heard that Daitsu-sama is cracking down on quality of the merchandise?" Kiyomi's eyebrow lifted as she glanced at Akemi from over the menu. The waitress came and took their orders, which was just two waters and a light sandwich.

The large burly man groaned and sat back in his seat, taking a sip of his drink. "Fucking yeah. All he wants is fucking blondes and dark haired ones. And he wants them to have a fighting spirit. We ain't gonna get that unless we go after kunoichi. And we gotta be careful of that shit. I mean we ain't, but a bunch of C-Rank shinobi. How the hell are we supposed to find kunoichi with those fucking qualities?"

"Man, I don't know… But we need to figure it out, and fast. He wants the next shipment ready to go before tomorrow night." one smaller man said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. The waitress brought the girls their tea and sandwiches and they politely thanked her. As she took a sip, Akemi noticed the thinner man glance in her direction, and the slight nudge of the guy next to him's shoulder.

The blonde took a bite of her sandwich, making eye contact with her friend. "We should go ahead and hurry up so we can get some shopping done." she said, soon feeling the whole table's eyes on them. She had an idea, but she wouldn't dare speak it anywhere near these guys. It would blow their cover entirely.

The girls finished their sandwiches and tea, leaving the money for their bill on the table and making their way out of the cafe. They kept walking, making sure the group of guys weren't following them. She stopped her friend in an alleyway, a grin plastered on her face as she turned to her. "Ki, I think I just found us our opening." she said barely above a whisper, still not sure who could be lurking.

Kiyomi gave a rare grin to the girl, "I think I know exactly what you're thinking. Let's get back to the others. We should let them know what we found out as well as our plan." The two girls then made their way back to the three boys and took a seat. Akemi still sporting her grin and Kiyomi even showing a smile. Genma and Shisui looked on in surprise. "What's got you two so happy?" Genma asked. The dark haired girl let her smile widen slightly, "We got the intel we needed."

Itachi gave the two a small smile himself. He was relieved that they were able to find something this soon. "And Akemi has a wonderful idea on how we can get directly to Daitsu Hitomi." She looked over to the blonde and nodded at her to explain the plan.


End file.
